Improvement in seal-locks



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

HERR'MANN AHREND, OF NEWARK, JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO ROMER & CO., OF ASAMEPLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEAL-LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 147,219, dated February3, 1574; application filed January 14, 1874.

To all whom yit 'may' concern Be it known that I, HERRNANN Ai-IREND, ofNewark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Seal-Locks; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to theletters of referencemarked thereon, which forni a part of thisspecification.

The nature of my invention consists partieularly in the peculiarconstruction of the sealing or locking key, whereby the lock may bequickly and securely locked and sealed, so as to prevent it from beingopened without detection.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionappert-aius to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation, referring to the annexed drawing, in which-Figure lis a side view of a seal-lock embodying my invention. Fig. 2 isa longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a section through the lineFig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section through the line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is aseetion through the line z z, Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 is an edge view of thekey.

A represents the casin g of the lock, having the general form of arectangle, and provided at its upper end with a horizontally-proiectingarm, B. C represents the hasp sliding within the case, and provided atits lower end with aiiange or shoulder, a, which meets a similar lian geor shoulder, a', at the upper end of the case, to vprevent the withdrawlof the hasp. At a suitable point in the sides of the ease A are madeslits b b, opposite each other, of suitable size to admit a key, D,which is made of a thin strip of sheet metal. Corresponding with theslits b in the lock-case is a recess, d, made in the hasp G, and thebottom of this recess is made convex, as shown in Figs. et and 5. ThekeyD passes through the slits b b, and through the recess d in the hasp,preventing the hasp from bein g moved and the lock opened. In order toprevent the key from being withA drawn by unauthorized persons, ashoulder, j', is formed upon each of its sides near the outer end,thereby preventing the key from being passed inward beyond a certainpoint; and to prevent its movement in the opposite direction, a tongue,h, is cut out of each side of the key, and said tongues ksprung inopposite di-4 rectionsthat is, one upward and the other downward. rIhesetongues form no impediment for the insertion of the key; but, as soon asthe key is inserted as far as the shoulders ff, the tongues springoutward in opposite directions, forming a lock against the inside of thecase above and below the key. This key cannot be removed without beingbroken, and hence not without detection, as, even it'vany instrumentcould possibly be inserted 011 one side of the key, it would only affectone ot the tongues, and the other would remain in place to hold itlocked.

llo open the lock, the kcy must be broken ott at the shoulders ff, whenitoan be pulled out from the other end.

The large end of the key I) may 'have a name, number, or any otherdesired mark stamped or otherwise affixed to it, as is usual in suchlocks.

I-Iaving thus fully described my invention, whatI claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The key D, provided with the shoulders j' f and the tongues h h, bent orsprung in opposite direct-ions, in combination with the slits b in thelock-oase, and recess d in the hasp, substantially as and for thepurposes herein set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I aflix my signaturein presence 'oi' two witnesses..

HERRMANN AHREND. IVit-nesses REUNE J. D. DUNN, ABRAHAM MANNEns.

